Syndergaard Delivers Big Time As Mets Beat Reds

METS 1 - REDS 0 

With both the New York Mets season, and his own personal season at a crossroads, Noah Syndergaard delivered the kind of outing that as Gary Cohen said on SNY, hadn’t been delivered by a Mets starting pitcher  … ever.

Syndergaard not only shutout the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on a hot Thursday afternoon at Citi Field, he tossed a complete game shutout and produced the only run of the game on a home run to left-center in the bottom of the third inning, becoming the first Met pitcher to both homer and toss a complete game shutout.

In a season where Syndergaard has been very un-Thor-like with an ERA that hovered around six, he reminded everyone how dominant a pitcher he can be. It is shame that the Mets can’t get this kind of outing every time out.

Syndergaard needed only 104 pitches to dispose of the Reds stubborn lineup, striking out a season high 10 batters and yielding only four hits on the afternoon.

As Keith Hernandez said on the broadcast, “Throw strikes and this is what can happen.” It sounds so simple, but throwing strikes on a consistent basis has been a problem for Syndergaard this year. He has been prone to deep counts all season, and his pitchcount has paid the price. Before Thursday’s game, he had only gone past the sixth inning once all season.

Today was a different day. He got ahead of the count, and made sure to get outs with two strikes, and he did a masterful job mixing up his pitches and changing speeds.

“He curveball was really working for him. He dotted his fastball when he wanted to. He did what we needed him to do. We don’t know how we get through the rest of the game if he didn’t complete it,” manager Mickey Callaway said in his postgame conference. “I think the main thing is he said enough was enough. He knew he had to get it done.”

Not one single Reds runner reached second base on Thursday. The closet the Reds came to getting a runner in scoring position, Jose Iglesias and David Dietrich grounded into double-plays.

The only time a runner did reach second, it came in the top of the ninth when Michael Lorenzen stole second base, but Syndergaard shook it off, and struck out Yasiel Puig looking to end it.

Asked whether he would have gone to the bullpen had Syndergaard got into any trouble in the ninth, Callaway said he would have given him the opportunity to get out of it.

Bottom line is the Mets needed this from a starting pitcher. The bullpen has been heavily overworked, and Mickey Callaway’s mismanagement with the pen hasn’t helped. New York is ranked third from the bottom in team ERA at 5.37. Only the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are worse in Major League Baseball.

Remember Callaway decided to send Jeurys Familia out for a six-out save on Tuesday and it blew up in his face. Familia is now on the Injured List. Last night Edwin Diaz gave up a home run in the ninth as the Reds won 1-0 on Wednesday. The bullpen needed the rest, and Callaway needed his second best starter to go out there and throw bullets.

New York’s season is still at a crossroads. At 16-15 the Mets face a very difficult six-game road trip to Milwaukee and San Diego.  The Brewers and Padres have always give the Mets a lot of problem when New York is the road team.